Professor Toru Tanaka(1930-2000)
- Actor
Built like the proverbial Patton tank, Professor Toru Tanaka was
arguably the successor to Harold Sakata as the archetypal Asian henchman who
possessed incredible strength, and clobbered those foolish enough to
tangle with him. Born Charles Kalani, he was a successful wrestler and
served for over ten years in the US Armed Forces attaining the rank of
sergeant. Tanaka first appeared playing a Japanese sumo wrestler on the
TV series Little House on the Prairie, however his first film role
pitched him as an insidious villain in the chop socky An Eye for an Eye (1981) in which
he faces down Chuck Norris before being kicked through a large table. In
total, Tanaka appeared in only 23 films including appearing alongside
Arnold Schwarzenegger twice in The Running Man (1987) and Last Action Hero (1993).
Appearing in The Perfect Weapon (1991) with 6th degree Kempo black belt, Jeff Speakman, Tanaka comes to a fiery end courtesy of an LPG tank!! In reality, Tanaka was far removed from his own screen persona, and was known to be a kind & generous man to all who knew him. He passed away in August, 2000 from heart failure.
Appearing in The Perfect Weapon (1991) with 6th degree Kempo black belt, Jeff Speakman, Tanaka comes to a fiery end courtesy of an LPG tank!! In reality, Tanaka was far removed from his own screen persona, and was known to be a kind & generous man to all who knew him. He passed away in August, 2000 from heart failure.
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